Welcome to the Notebook
A little over a year ago, my husband and I decided to follow a long-held dream. We packed up our lives, moved to Venice, and bought an apartment to renovate and call home.
Navigating local bureaucracy, project managing a full structural overhaul through the canals, and building a new life here has been an incredible adventure. But as an Organizational Change Management specialist, it has also been a massive live experiment in human adaptability.
This notebook is a space where I bridge those two worlds. It’s a collection of real-time reflections on community, resilience, and the art of managing transition—proving that whether you are navigating a blind Venetian canal or a complex global corporate restructuring, success always comes down to putting people first.
The Umbrella We Build
True inclusion is about creating spaces where people feel safe to drop the mask—whether expressing their true identity or navigating personal loss. This post explores how leaders can build genuine psychological safety, distinguish between temporary capacity drops and poor performance, and lead with understanding and kindness.
Building Across Borders: How to Beat Hybrid Friction When the Clock is Ticking
If you can manage a high-stakes, cross-border renovation from your laptop, you can master hybrid team leadership. The secret isn’t more management; it’s a better rhythm.
The Myth of the Clean Slate: Why New Leaders Fail in "Historic" Environments
Lessons from a Venetian renovation on why forcing rigid frameworks onto legacy cultures causes internal structural collapse.
Broken Fuel Lines and Psychological Safety: Why Transformation Stalls
A breakdown on the lagoon is a swift reminder that a brilliant business strategy is entirely useless if your internal corporate plumbing is broken.
What do oncoming gondoliers and resistant corporate stakeholders have in common?
Navigating a blind corner in a narrow canal requires the exact same skill as managing change: knowing how to read the hidden signals and communicate before a collision happens.
Productive Procrastination and the Endorphins of the "Big Project"
Reflecting on the art of productive procrastination, remote working from a Venetian altana, and why the best ideas happen when you step away from the screen.